Mayors to Present 'Automotive Loop' to Lawmakers

September 17, 2012

News Release

Mayor Greg Goodnight, Kokomo and Mayor Wayne Seybold, Marion have been invited to speak before the Indiana Legislature’s Interim Study Committee on Economic Development on Monday, September 24th.

The committee, co-chaired by State Senator Jim Buck and State Representative Mark Messmer has requested Mayors Goodnight (democrat) and Seybold (republican) to share their “Midwest Automotive Loop” regional cooperative as a model for attracting new businesses and investment to the State of Indiana.

“We are presenting a unified message to step-up the pace of outside investment to our region,” said Marion Mayor Wayne Seybold. “Potential business ventures are not just going to accidentally discover or locate here unless we take an aggressive approach to introduce ourselves.”

“We began collaborating to establish a new competitive advantage for our communities’ mutual benefit,” said Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight. “The Midwest Automotive Loop promotes our region’s collective strengths of modern manufacturing facilities and technology clusters to attract business investment and international companies.”

Kokomo and Marion are home to two of the largest American Automotive companies and North America’s largest automotive parts supplier. The region is also home to dozens of supply-chain manufacturers, electronic parts developers as well as research, development and testing laboratories.

The Midwest Automotive Loop was formed in 2011 to combine the communities’ municipal resources to attract a wider range of trading and investment partners to the region.

Source: City of Kokomo